Improvement in bridges



' RQHOOVER.

Patented May 20,1879.

N.PETERS, PHOTO-UTHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON D. c. I

the side flanges being provided'with extend- UNIT D STATES PATn r IOFFICE,

REUBEN HOOVER, OF IOWA- CITY, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF HIS V RIGHT ToJOHN E. JAYNE, or SAME PLAeE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRIDGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,522, dated May 20,1879; application filed February 1, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN Hoovnn, of Iowa City, in the county ofJohnson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bridges; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and' exact descriptionof the invention, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation.Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of oneend of the arch with its chair; and Fig. 4 is an end view of the same.

Similar letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in both thefigures.-

My invention relates to that class of bridges known as arched -bean1bridges; and it consists, essentially, in the combination, with thearched beams, chords, and cross-beams, of supporting-stirrups arrangedin such a manner as to distribute the weight or pressure of the roadwayand its superimposed load or loads evenly over all. parts of the archedbeams, substantially as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawings, A A are the arches, which are made from long boards orplanks of suitable width, bent over a form and securely nailed andspiked together at each layer, so that the whole will form one compactmass, which is then thoroughly saturated with coaltar to preserve itfrom decay. Each arc is then cased up and down on both sides With commoncasing or ceiling boards, and a neat molding is put along the upperedges, after which the top is covered with galvanized iron, or similarmaterial, and painted.

Each end of the arches A is set into a flanged metallic chair or seat,B, the construction of which will be more readily understood byreference to the detail views represented in Figs. 3 and 4.

Each chair consists of a flat plate having parallel side flanges, a a,and end flanges, b,

ing lateral ears or wings c c, by means of which the chairs are spikedto the pier or abutment beams O 0.

That end of the arches A which is set into the chairs B between the sideflanges, a a, is recessed longitudinally to admit of the insertion ofthe ends of the chord-rods D, which pass through perforations in the endflange, b, of each chair, and are there held in place by a nut orenlarged head, (I.

The cross-beamsE are suspended from the arches A by vertical rods 6,having nuts c at their lower ends, and are braced to the arches A A(with the exception of the cross-beam nearest each end of the arches) bydiverging strap-rods f, secured upon the outer sides of the arches, asshown in Fig. 2.

To equalize the pressure or strain upon the arches, I employstirrup-rods g g g 9 arranged as shown in the drawingsthat is to say,starting at one end, the stirrup-rod 9 passes under the first cross-beamE, forming an eye around the downward-projecting end of thesuspension-rod e, and then up to a point at or near the center of thearch, wherefrom it is continued in like manner down on the other sideand up again to the arch near its other end, as-show i The nextstirrup-rod, 9 starts from the arch at a point a short distance abovethe startingpoint of g, and between this and its corresponding verticalrod, and passing under the next cross-beam E in like manner, reaches upto a point at the other end of the arch between. and 9 Rod 9 passingobliquely downward from the arch, supports the third beam E 'in likemanner as rods 9 g sustain their respective beams, and then up to theopposite side of the arch, whereit is secured between rods g 9 as shown.Finally, the pair of stirruprods denoted by 9 cross each other under thecenter of the arch, starting, on one side, between the fastening-pointsof g and g, and on the other between 9 and g their diverging endsforming eyes, through which are inserted the suspension-rods of thebeams nearest the respective ends of the arches.

It is obvious that the arrangement of the stirrup rods, as hereindescribed, requires modification where more than four cross-beams asdescribed, of the arches A, vertical suspension-rods 6, chords D,oblique tie-rods g g g g, and cross-beams E, in such a manner that thelatter are supported below the chords D upon nuts eof the verticalsuspension rods, and upon shoes or hangers formed by the doubling of thetie-rods under the ends of the crossbeanls, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

REUBEN HOOVER. Witnesses:

WILMOT HEARD, J. W. SMITH.

